philoshop

My question is not so much why the kid was captured and held hostage for 18 months, but how he was slowly killed during his captivity. NK has over 100,000 of their own people in concentration camps at any given time, and regularly kills it's own citizens through starvation and a variety of other means, so the question of why they would kill an American is almost pointless. He was released when he was because the North Koreans didn't want a dead American on their soil. The destruction of Otto Warmbier's brain was calculated and occurred over a relatively short period of time. There are basically three ways this happens: 1. Blunt force trauma. Fists or sticks or whatever to the head, but there don't appear to be the broken bones to indicate this. 2. Drugs. Heavy doses of narcotics. Possible, but not really likely for a few reasons: he was basically convicted for spying, and why would they want to kill the kid before they got whatever information they thought he might have. That quantity of narcotics in such a short period of time will show up in an autopsy, at any rate. 3. Asphyxiation. When prolonged, this kind of extensive brain damage is the exact result. Something like repetitive daily water-boarding over many months would produce the "extensive damage to all regions of the brain" that were talked about by the attending physicians who examined him in the U.S. It leaves no marks and no forensic traces. This kid, who tried to pull a very stupid prank in a Communist country, was likely tortured to death for trying to steal a propaganda poster. Teach your children well. The world is not one big happy family. The next question is what is the appropriate U.S. response?

Being young and uninformed is the short answer.

I had a Jeep pickup in the 1970's with a few bullet creases across the hood. Always remember that the barrel is 1 1/2" below the scope's line of sight. ;-] You beat me to it db!!

My knee jerk reaction to fracking was to be against it because the only information I had was essentially propaganda. After doing even a minimal amount of research my opinion changed. It's another missed opportunity for NYS.

Best birthday wishes to you!

Order one: Birthday, happy, size XL!

I did the same thing last year. I have a shooting range in my back yard, but the woodchuck starts digging under the shop in my front yard where it's unsafe to shoot. I think they know...

The sub-floor you have is solid wood, and structural, so it would be best to keep it intact unless there is rot somewhere. A good tile guy will probably remove any underlayment such as luaun anyway, so don't beat yourself up with the adhesives and whatnot. Scraping off that junk is not fun. Get down to the sub-floor (the diagonal boards under everything) and hire a decent tile guy to install the right backer-board and tile. Best of luck, and keep us posted.

There isn't a slot machine in the world that would pay out $43mil. As stated earlier, max payout is generally posted for all to see, regardless of what the machine happens to say. And I'm guessing she doesn't have enough money to mount a serious challenge against the casino in any event. It's kind of like an e-mail from a Nigerian prince.

This video was done just hours before the assassination attempt on a group of Capitol Hill Republicans practicing for a friendly baseball game. Before! Please, watch the whole video (it's less than 20 minutes), but pay particular attention to the part that starts at about 13:40 where he describes how murdering another human being can easily become nothing more than a "technical exercise" in the case of some radicalized nut-jobs. It gave me a chill.

I really try not to rub this stuff in in a casual conversation. Most people have no idea what it's like to operate heavy machinery or even farm machinery. I give them this look: I'm suspicious of your motives. I've been there and done that.

Very nice!! Looks like excellent form. Be proud!

I had one on a job site years ago that had to be lifted out with a crane. A very big crane. Thankfully, it wasn't my employee or my responsibility. It was a damned big crane though.

When it starts to dig a hole, back off the throttle. I learned that 50+ years ago. It's a whole lotta work dragging one of those things out of the mud. If it happens to be the biggest tractor in the barn, you're definitely in serious trouble and looking for friends. ;-) 3" cable. That's some pretty stout hardware. But that's exactly what it takes when you hook 2000 combined HP to a stuck tractor. The only thing worse is a stuck dozer. Those things will dig their own graves in a matter of seconds if the operator isn't paying attention..

Since about eight years ago, Rattler. Actually since about 50 years ago, but that's a different subject altogether. The policies of appeasement, pacification, and the overall wussification of the American populace is coming to a boil. I don't take it lightly, but a lot of people do.

There are still some fields that are too wet get on to. Weirdest spring/summer I've seen in a long time. When you can get a 40,000 pound eight wheel drive tractor stuck in a field in the middle of June it's a head-scratcher. I'll blame the Democrats...and Obama...why not? This an internet pic, but I helped work on one just like it a week ago:

The social justice warriors of the American Left would immediately call that an unfair fight. In my personal opinion, if the fight is fair you did something wrong in the preparation. If you're not trying to win, you shouldn't be fighting in the first place.

High school speak for baloney. Sorry, Paula. No offense intended. Mea culpa! I'm generally pretty civilized, but I sometimes climb out on the limb. It comes with the age and the territory. Please forgive me.

I had a blow-me sammich. I really need to step up my game around here.

A gallon of water and a couple of sandwiches in my pocket, I'm good to go. An articulated boom mower is actually kinda fun to run as well. It wears thin after ten to twelve hours, but there's always a sense of accomplishment. I also run discs and clod-choppers in the winter, but I'd rather be working in the summer. Pumping the grease gun in the winter is a PITA, and there are a lot of grease fittings on the rigs that I run. Stay safe folks. Keep hydrated, and add a little salt now and then.

The A/C in the tractor is mainly for air filtration. It's not healthy breathing in all the dust and debris a 10 foot mower creates. Slamming the cab door knocks off most of the loose junk from the ventilation system, but it takes compressed air 3 or 4 times a day to clean the radiator and screens. When I was a kid a wet bandana over my face was the best I could do. Hey, what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger, right?

If I were closer to you I'd do it for dinner and drinks. Ask around the local American Legion or VFW. There's a level of basic honesty there that is often missing in the general public.

I spent the morning in an air-conditioned tractor cab mowing alfalfa. Things could be worse.

Give him a hearty dope-slap for me. It's important that we learn from our mistakes.

I can't believe he was 88 years old. He was younger then than I am now. That's scary.